MikeyJ RN

I could not imagine nursing school being online. It is hell in the classroom -- could not imagine it online. Furthermore, I bet it would do many students a huge injustice because I guarantee there would be many students who could potentially use thei...

I consider 39 to be young! Heck, there are people who go back to medical school after 40, and that road is far longer and arduous than nursing. I say go for it -- I know you will not regret it.

The American with Disabilities Act legally prevents a hospital from denying employment to a nurse with hearing aids.

I applaud the AMA!

Yup, the poster had it correct. A few of our professors have been invited to write NCLEX questions. Essentially what happens is that the questions are collectively written (usually by nursing professors from around the country). After they are writt...

The hospital I work at does paper charting and it is actually fairly efficient. During shift change, we do something called "shift audit" and that means both nurses have to look at any orders written that day together and sign off on them. This reall...

Where I live, they call "externs" nurse apprentices (I assume it is very similar). My hospital and unit are amazing to me and essentially allow me to do everything. I am assigned to a nurse who then gives me half of her patients (usually 3 or 4) and ...

Notify the BON and I would personally confront not only the nursing school but also the college/university administration. If they do nothing to accomodate you all and get you into hospital clinicals, I would contact an attorney because if they do no...

I just read an article recently (I will try finding it again) that the PSA should probably not even be done anymore because it is very unreliable. There are a few different medications and herbal medications that create false-positives as well.

Definitely not the primary's fault in this case and I can actually understand where he is coming from.

Absolutely not. Like other have said, nursing school is tough enough. Putting yourself in an environment you are not comfortable in will probably hinder you from doing the best you can.

A few things -- a young boy thanked me for caring for him. The other was witnessing my first pediatric code -- 7 year old girl broughten to ER in full arrest and they got a pulse and rushed her to the PICU where the entire staff was in there trying t...

I could not even imagine being in that position.

It is definitely a move on administrations part to save money, but apparently they indicated to management that most hospitals no longer use buretrols. We have syringe pumps but not enough to accomodate the # of patients we have. It will be very int...

I think it depends what your first semester consists of. Some programs have an excruciating first semester while others ease you into it with only a few classes. First semester for me was definitely tough -- mainly because it is a huge learning curv...

I am insured and I recently went to get a prescription filled and they only charged me $4.

Even after I leave the hospital, it seems as if the stench is stuck in my nose and I cannot get rid of it. The two smells that disgust me are loose stenchy stools and enteral feedings. I don't know why the smell of the enteral "formula" disgusts me ...

As long as they have flushed it (whether it be saline or heparin push or flushed it using a pump), it shouldn't clot. I have noticed that there are a few nurses that will then turn off the pump (after flushing) and not disconnect the IV. I usually a...

As the VP for SNA my first two semesters of nursing school, I soon realized that taking a huge community project is not worth the time and effort because there will not be much of a turn out. Most nursing students are incredibly busy with not only sc...

I personally would not start applying till near graduation. In regards to the cover letter, I would write a general cover letter and include it with your resume.

Look at the board pass rates for that school (you can do so by going to your State Board of Nursing website), and if your school has a pass rate > 80% and are not under any type of accreditation problems, then your school is teaching enough requir...

I'm with Tazzi on this one -- I usually double glove when doing a sterile procedure. I put the non-sterile on and setup whatever I need to setup and then put the sterile on and do the procedure. Therefore if my hands get messed up while doing the pro...

The hospital I work for has retention bonuses for all employees -- it is a county hospital and they start paying out retention bonuses (we call them "longevity" bonuses") after 8 years of service. It is a certain percentage of your yearly salary -- ...

This is off the main topic but had to respond about nurses sleeping. I work graveyard shifts as a nurse apprentice and one time walked in on a CNA sleeping in a toddlers room with no parents. I told the charge nurse but nothing happened. There is al...

I agree with the other poster who said focus on finishing high school and then focus on doing well in college so you can get into nursing school. Then worry about how much you will make. :) Salaries vary across the country but anywhere you go you ar...